Another round-up from the 2016 Aussie Millions as Ari Engel defeats Tony Dunst in heads-up action to win the A$1.6m first prize on the A$10,600 buy-in Main Event.

The $10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event is history. The A$1.6m first prize could not have gone to a better poker bastion as Ari Engel beat Tony Dunst, in heads-up action, to win his first major final after a decade in the business.

The star attraction attracted 732 entrants, created a total prize pool of A$7,320,000 and two poker millionaires (Aussie currency). Engel and Dunst not only headlined the final table, but they also entered one and two in chips with Engel carrying 8.1m into the most critical phase of the event, and Dunst taking 5.9m. Samantha Abernathy and Kitty Kuo also made the final table.

When I last spoke to Engel, in March 2015, he was homeless, played poker for a living; played poker in his spare time, and even dreamed of cards when he went to bed.

He has won a Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Main Event, more gold rings than Mr.T, and collected a series of six-figure scores. This is different gravy. This is one of the most notable events of the calendar year.

There are only 3 of the 24 events remaining at the time of writing. One of them is the most expensive buy-in of the lot.

Event #22: The LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge attracted 15 entrants, and the 2015 Global Poker Index (GPI) King of the World, Byron Kaverman, ended Day 1 on top with 705,000 chips. Fedor Holz is second (440,500), Paul Newey third (395,500) and Steve O’Dwyer fourth (388,500).

Late registration is still open until the start of Day 2.

And in other news:

Paul Hoefer won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in the summer. He now has an Aussie Millions side event to go along with it. The German defeated 190 entrants to capture the A$106,920 first prize in the A$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE).

Few people flew to Oz in a better run of form than Darryll Fish, and he is also an Aussie Millions side event winner after defeating a field of 194 entrants in the curiously named A$1,150 Aussie Millions Tournament of Champions Event for an A$49,695 prize.

Joshua Budin beat the talented Daniel Laidlaw in heads-up to take the first prize of A$64,670 in the A$2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event. Walter Treccarichi defeated Daniel Nielson in heads-up action to win the A$113,118 first prize in the A$2,500 Shot Clock Six-Max NLHE, and Jarryd Godena finally put one away after winning the A$121,070 first prize in the A$5,000 Six-Max NLHE. Godena was making his third final table appearance of the series.

Last but not least, the German megastar Martin Finger took down the A$42,605 first prize after beating 163 players in the A$1,150 Shot Clock Turbo NLHE.

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